


Meant to be

by qwibbs



Category: Lupin III
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Getting Together, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, lupin experiences a Thought and has to deal with the consequences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:42:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22202785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwibbs/pseuds/qwibbs
Summary: Lupin sees Zenigata's mark during a heist and suddenly a lot of things make so much more sense.
Relationships: Arsène Lupin III/Zenigata Kouichi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 173





	Meant to be

**Author's Note:**

> I've been watching so much Lupin lately and this is apparently the result of that.  
> Sometimes you just have to water your own crops and write that soulmate fic yourself.

It is not a secret that Lupin is fond of the concept of soulmates. Sure, he sleeps around a lot but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want to find his soulmate; It just means that he has some fun while he waits for the moment he meets them. Granted, it wasn’t even guaranteed that he would get to know them and it certainly wasn’t unheard of people living a happy life with a loving spouse despite them not being soulmates, but whenever he sees his mark in a mirror he still feels excitement flaring up.  
  
There was a time when he hoped that Jigen would be the one to have a matching mark. The way they were comfortable in each other’s presence, how they worked together… It just seemed to make sense. He was playing with the thought until one drunk evening in which Jigen had shown him the scar on his shoulder where his used to be.  
“They make it easier to identify a body,” he said, when prompted why one would remove it. Lupin had winced then. Jigen wasn’t interested in romantic pursues anyways, so it wasn’t a big loss for him, but still…  
Well, the locations of their marks wasn’t a match anyways so it’s not like the rest would have been one.  
  
He had considered Fujiko too and she had agreed that they might match while slowly removing layers of her clothing to show off her mark(as well as other things). Them constantly meeting and clashing together like this couldn’t be a coincidence, right?  
He believed her right up until she knocked his lights out with a laugh and disappeared with that night’s loot.  
She did end up meeting her soulmate through him, though. Rebecca and her were a force to be reckoned with; Thankfully they don’t work together that often. Lupin is already overwhelmed by Fujiko whenever she appears. Another beautiful woman who can kick his ass would probably be the end of him.  
  
He isn’t sure about Goemon, but the look he had thrown Lupin when he asked was enough of an answer for him.  
  
So, yes. Lupin isn’t opposed to finding his soulmate. He’s not _obsessed_ with it, Fujiko, thank you very much, but he sure would not mind if he were to meet them. Even if it doesn’t happen, there’s nothing wrong with his glance always wandering to people’s left waist area where his is located. If it’s there: Great! If not, well that’s great too because if he’s already close enough to see their naked lower waist in detail it’ll probably be a good time in any case. It’s not constantly on his mind, but he might as well check.  
  
In comes the night of a special heist. The heist itself isn’t that spectacular, considering some of the other ones they pulled off, but it’s a fairly decent one with a good reward in the form of an extremely valuable painting from a museum and despite Pops’ meddling their gang is already on their way to escape.  
  
What makes it special is what happens on the run to the Fiat.  
  
“Lupin!!” Zenigata is hot on his trail, running after him while Lupin tries to keep the painting he’s carrying unharmed. It’s a pain to run with the thing, but Jigen is already in the Fiat to make sure that the engine is running and ready and Goemon is distracting the rest of the police force, so the burden of securing the loot falls to him. He hears the inspector cursing behind him and something about locking him up for years, but thankfully he also hears the sound of Goemon’s sword unsheathing and he cannot stop the grin that forms on his lips. Seems like he’s done with the distraction.  
Lupin is aware that he should run, though he cannot help but whip his head around to see what his friend has in store for the good inspector. And lo and behold there go Pops’ clothes, cut into tiny pieces with Goemon’s precise movements.  
  
At first Lupin starts to laugh, fully turned around now and running backwards. But then- then he glimpses at Zenigata’s waist and-  
 _There’s a mark._  
He stops breathing for a moment, slowing down. Pops, meanwhile, is obviously very embarrassed and immediately slaps one of his hands over the mark before he realizes that Lupin is still there and starts running after him, red faced and in his underwear now. But-  
But Lupin has seen it. It’s obviously there. Granted, it was only a glimpse and he can’t tell if it’s the same one or if it just looks similar and-  
  
He hears the tires of the Fiat squeaking as it stops next to him and Jigen’s annoyed voice. ”Lupin, what in the world do you think you’re doing?! Get in the car,” He shouts and shoots at something in the distance.  
Startled from his thoughts, Lupin does just that and jumps into the car, painting with him and Jigen immediately floors it.  
  
It takes a while until the police loses them and when they do Lupin has finally time to think. This has to be a coincidence. It can’t be the same mark, this is Pops, it’s impossible. He would have noticed something by now.  
Yes, they are always saving each other’s asses and yes, he and Pops have some sort of friendship and mutual respect for each other. He’d be lying if he said that he doesn’t think that the inspector is attractive and he _might_ have had one or two dreams about him in situations, which did definitely not involve Lupin’s arrest but nonetheless the handcuffs. And, sure, he did flirt with him occasionally but that was just banter. And maybe he does have a little crush, he's aware of that already, but soulmates?  
  
Suddenly, he isn’t too sure anymore.  
  
There was that one time when Zenigata was badly injured by a different criminal and Lupin got _pissed_ . Unreasonably so, now that he thinks about it. He watched over Pops’ recovery like a hawk (without him knowing, of course), he had to see that he’s fine for himself and after that he made sure the guy who injured him got what he deserved.  
Another time Lupin got really, really mopey when Zenigata got assigned to a different case and couldn’t chase after him. So mopey, in fact, that he cancelled the planned heist and just kinda laid on the couch until Jigen’s complaints got unavoidable. He didn’t have nearly as much fun as usual with that job. There wasn’t a single problem, they pulled it off perfectly without Pops there to stop them and Lupin felt like it was a hollow victory. He forgot about that incident as soon as his favorite inspector was back on the case, but now…  
  
He tries to imagine a world without Pops in it, without his annoyingly adorable laughs when he thinks he caught Lupin, without their constant banter, without the rare moments in which they simply talk and.  
And he fails.  
He cannot imagine himself without this lovable idiot; Who is the greatest thief without his greatest rival? What would even be the point? And the thought of Pops getting harmed makes his heart ache in a way he can’t describe. One the other hand, the thought of kissing him, touching the mark he had seen earlier, letting his hand trail over his body, hell, just spending time with him, bantering...  
  
 _Oh god._  
  
This isn’t a crush. He’s in love with Zenigata.  
How did he not realize this?  
  
The soulmate thing does not seem too absurd anymore. It makes sense. Oh man, it makes too much sense. Zenigata himself mentioned once that he gave up everything to chase Lupin. Did this mean they were meant to be? When did that happen?  
Oh dear lord, he fell for the guy who is supposed to arrest him. He is an idiot for not realizing this sooner. Lupin feels the metaphorical gears in his head turning. The question is, what the next logical step is. He needs an excuse to see Pops naked to confirm his suspicion, maybe he should-  
  
“Okay, I was planning on ignoring that slip up during the job, but what is up with this pensive silence thing you’ve been doing for the past 20 minutes,” Jigen interrupts his personal crisis, while lighting up the cigarette that sits in his mouth. “It’s starting to creep me out. Was there something else that went horribly wrong, or…?”  
  
Before Lupin’s brain can signal him to stop, he blurts out, ”I think I found my soulmate.” He blames the emotional state he’s in.  
  
Next to him there’s an audible groan and from the corner of his eye he sees how Jigen’s grip on the steering wheel becomes more strained. “Really? Again? Look, Lupin-”  
  
He takes offense to that. “What do you mean again?! You’re my friend, you’re supposed to be happy for me!” It does not happen _that_ often.  
  
Jigen lets his cigarette wander from one corner of his mouth to the other. “Well, maybe I would be more supportive if you wouldn’t say this about every attractive woman you’ve ever laid your eyes on.”  
  
“That’s not true.”  
  
“Fujiko.”  
  
“She’s the exception not the rule.”  
  
“Rebecca.”

“I only got married to her to steal the crown!”  
  
“The girl from three weeks ago, shit I don’t remember her name. Something with an S? Anyways, I seem to recall you calling her your guaranteed soulmate, at least until it turned out that the other guy was hers.”  
  
“That…” He clears his throat. “I get the point. Anyways, this time I’m sure.”  
  
“Oh, please.” Lupin does not see his eyes but he feels the judgement radiating off of Jigen.  
  
“I say we let him speak his mind.” Lupin whirls around at that and sees Goemon sitting in the backseat with his eyes closed. Right next to the painting. When did he come back?  
  
A sigh. Jigen might be ready to argue with Lupin but fights with Goemon are often a lost cause. “Alright. Why are you sure this time.” It doesn’t sound like a sincere question.  
  
With a triumphant smirk Lupin answers anyways, ”Because I saw it! I saw the mark!”  
  
Goemon opens his eyes and raises his eyebrows. Apparently he didn’t actually believe it either and just wanted Lupin to get it out of his system. “Are you certain?”  
  
“Well…” His smirk falters a little bit at that. “It’s on the same spot at least?”  
  
“Lupin, I don’t know how to tell you this, but that’s not a rare occurrence, it has to be the same pattern too,” Jigen says in a long suffering tone.  
  
“I am aware, trust me, but listen it looked similar enough from what I was able to see. I’ve been in love with him for a long time, I just didn’t realize it until today and-”  
  
“Wait, wait, wait. ‘Today’? When did you have time to see this guy and the mark with the heist and all?” Jigen is well aware of the placement of Lupin’s mark. They’ve lived together long enough for Jigen to see his ‘boss’ in different states of undress.  
  
“Ah, well about that…”  
  
Something feels off to Jigen. He isn’t sure _what_ exactly that bad feeling is but... “Lupin… You mentioned that you’ve known the guy for a long time, is it someone we know?”  
  
Lupin cringes. “Ah, it’s, uhm- you know.” There’s a nervous smirk on his face now. “Zenigata?”  
  
Jigen jerks his head to Lupin, accidentally moving the steering wheel with him and nearly driving into a tree. “What?! Are you fucking kidding me? Zenigata? The inspector? _Pops?!”_  
  
“Uh, hehe. Surprise? Trust me, I’ve been thinking about it and it just seems logical for us to be, you know.” Still feels weird to use the word soulmates in context with Zenigata.  
  
“It does not make friggin’ sense! This is literally the only thing worse than your Fujiko obsession, because instead of just losing all your loot, you’ll lose the loot _and_ go to prison and maybe take us all with you. Are you insane?!”  
  
Before Lupin can answer, Goemon intervenes, ”Actually, it does make sense. It does seem like your destiny is intertwined with the inspector’s.” He nods to himself.  
  
“Not you too, Goemon. Have you all lost your remaining brain cells tonight? Do you have a concussion?”  
  
“No, just think about it. Think about how Lupin and Zenigata act around each other and Lupin’s pathetic attempts at flirting.”  
  
“What do you mean 'pathetic'?" What’s up with everyone ganging up on him tonight.  
  
Jigen is silent for a moment. Then he suddenly says, in what is almost a whisper, ”Oh _god.”_ A pause. “They do act like lovestruck idiots around each other.”  
  
“Thank yo- Wait, I do not act _lovestruck_ .”  
  
Ignoring Lupin, Jigen silently curses. “Fuckin’ Zenigata. I don’t know what I expected.” They are almost at their hideout, relatively far away from the city for once and Jigen squints, searching for the building in the dark. “Why can’t you go for people who don’t actively try to sabotage you.”  
  
Goemon clears his throat. “Well, now that you are aware of that possibility… What will you do about it? You do not know yet if it really is the same mark and you still have to tell the inspector.”  
  
He isn’t wrong about that. But even if it’s not a match, this is still worth investigating after all there’s a whole new stage of feelings for Zenigata to explore. He briefly considers telling Pops about this whole thing on the next heist and promptly discards that idea again; The guy’s too focused on stopping Lupin in those scenarios, he’d probably assume that the thief is trying to distract him.  
  
“Something along the lines of a personal visit. Think he likes flowers?”  
  
Jigen stops the car in front their hideout of the week and switches off the engine. “I think he’d appreciate it if you didn’t break into his apartment.”  
  
“Aw, c’mon. What’s a little breaking and entering between potential soulmates?”  
  
  
  
After he has given his realization some time to settle in and to confirm that it’s not just some fleeting interest(shut up, Jigen), it’s time to visit the inspector. He doesn’t send a calling card even if it has been tempting. Zenigata would probably interpret that as a threat and he doesn’t want him to think this is a job thing. He does buy a bouquet of flowers though. It seems somewhat appropriate and Lupin likely has to warm him up to the idea first. He’s charming enough so he assumes that Pops will at least listen to what he has to say.  
After making sure that Zenigata is indeed currently in Japan, Lupin looks up where the guy actually lives. From there on it is too easy to get access to the apartment he’s staying in. Pops should really change his locks sometime.  
  
He isn’t at home right now obviously; Lupin made sure to arrive at a time when he’s still at the local police station. The apartment itself is just what he expects. Not a lot of furniture, just the necessary things. Obviously Zenigata doesn’t stay here a lot with his job taking him around the globe and all. Lupin can relate. Still, there are things which indicate that Zenigata does indeed stay here sometimes. The cigarette brand he prefers, little souvenirs from places he has visited, a familiar coat that has been discarded on a chair…  
It makes Lupin giddy with excitement. Maybe he should have waited until the man was home after all because now he’s too restless to wait. He’s pacing around the room, not sure if he should hold onto the flowers or maybe lay them down on the table. Should he find a vase? No, no he has to personally give them to him, otherwise the whole gesture is lost.  
  
His mind is so occupied with how he’ll present himself(and the flowers) that he doesn’t notice the noise of the front door opening and only reacts when he hears Zenigata step into the living room, which ends his pacing and puts him on high alert immediately.  
Zenigata himself stands in the doorframe, staring at Lupin in stunned silence while Lupin is slightly panicking and to the surprise of everyone Zenigata is actually the first one who regains his ability to speak.  
  
“Lupin? I... What are you…” Then he seems to realize that, yes, that’s Lupin the Third in his living room. “ _Lupin,_ ” he hisses and his hand quickly moves to where he usually keeps the handcuffs.  
  
“Nonono, no! Pops listen, I’m just here to talk.” He puts his hands out in front of him, trying to show that he does not bear any ill will towards the inspector. “Look, I didn’t even bring any weapons or gadgets or anything.”  
  
“Talk?! What is this, some sort of trick of yours or…” He glances over to the roses Lupin is still holding in his hand, trailing off. There’s a confused frown on his face now and he has apparently given up on the handcuffs plan. “What kind of talk?” His shoulders fall, he calms down a bit.  
Or at least he realizes that there isn’t anything valuable his rival could steal here.  
  
“Ah, it’s actually a quite serious one. But first-” With a extravagant motion he hands Zenigata the flowers. “Those are for you.” 

The bewilderment on his face is actually quite cute, Lupin notes. "Did something happen?" Zenigata ends up asking.

"Nothing bad, I assure you. Also, I probably wouldn't buy roses in that case."

"I… Thank you, I suppose? I’m not sure if I have a nice vase for them." He stares at the bouquet in his hands. Lupin sees a hint of red on his cheeks, so he assumes that step one was a success. 

Now comes the hard part.  
  
“Yea, you don’t seem to be here that often, huh? I actually had to check if you even live here first.” He might have watched the building for a while to make sure that the inspector is indeed staying here. Not that he will tell him.  
  
Zenigata snorts at that. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know why I’m never here.” He puts the flowers on the tables for now. “I was actually thinking about selling this place, might be cheaper to just find a hotel when I’m here.”  
  
“Aww, Pops what about your little trinket collection?”  
  
“I see you didn’t waste any time and immediately went through my stuff, why am I not surprised.”  
  
Lupin laughs, he can’t really blame Zenigata for that assumption.“I didn’t go through your stuff, I just made some observations while I am here anyways.” Just talking to him makes Lupin’s heart pick up in pace. Man, he has it bad. “Pinky promise.”  
  
“Not sure how much that is worth coming from you, but I’ll take it,” he says shaking his head to hide his grin. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed but you’re stalling. What is it you wanted to talk about?”  
  
“I’m not stalling.” He is totally stalling.  
  
Now, how does he play his cards here. He could just outright say it. A simple ‘I love you’, three little words and it’s out in the room. But that's just not his style. Maybe he should build up to it a little?  
“I noticed something on the last heist.” He settles on explaining it first, something he doesn’t do that often but it gives him more time to think this through. Or just make it up as he goes. Whichever works.  
  
“I thought this wasn’t a crime related visit.” Zenigata frowns a little bit, probably remembering his last failure to catch his rival. “Don’t make me arrest you after all.”  
  
“And it isn’t. It’s about your mark.” This is a start at least. Lupin can work with this.  
  
Zenigata blinks at him, eyebrows shooting up. He looks even more confused. “My mark?! Why the hell would you be interested in that?”  
  
Well, here goes nothing. Lupin clears his throat. “It’s, you know. It’s very similar to one I’m very familiar with.” He taps on his waist where his own mark is located. Zenigata follows the motion and immediately looks like he wants to speak up. Lupin interrupts him before he can even start. “Look, it made me think about… things. Us, specifically. And even if it’s not a match I realized something about my feelings for you.”  
He takes a deep breath, pausing for a second. “You’re- You are important to me. Very important, in fact. In a, uh, more than friendship way, if you catch my drift. Important as in 'I love you' and 'Not really sure what I'd do without you around', actually." Well. That was not as smooth as he intended it to be.   
  
Zenigata, meanwhile, looks absolutely stunned. The inspector’s face is noticeably red and Lupin hopes it’s from embarrassment and not from anger. He really doesn’t want to get kicked out already.  
  
The silence gets kind of awkward so Lupin coughs into his hand before he says, “Uh, Pops, you still with me? Not to pressure you or anything but an answer of any kind would be appreciated”  
  
That seems to shock him into talking again. “Yes, you’re right, I must apologize. This just… Isn’t what I expected when I found you lurking in my living room.” He mumbles. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”  
  
“Do you really think I’d embarrass myself with a confession like that if I wasn’t? Of course I’m serious!” It’d be a cruel joke to play on someone too, kinda like his fake deaths, but he isn’t going to mention that. Otherwise that he’d have to listen to a lecture about how awful it is of him to let people believe that he died. Again. His ears are still ringing from last time.  
  
“Just checking.” Zenigata glances dumbfounded at the flowers. “Huh. I thought you were going to tell me that you’re going to retire or something.”  
  
“You’re awfully content with this situation, I expected more shouting.”  
  
Zenigata doesn’t even seem to be listening to him anymore. “Can I… Can I see the mark?”  
  
He can feel a smirk on his face before he automatically responds, “Look at you, already asking me to undress on our first date. Unexpected but not unwelcome.” Zenigata throws him a _look_ and Lupin has to bark out a laugh again. “Alright, alright, sorry.”  
  
He does begin to loosen his tie and unbutton his shirt, but he cannot stop himself from winking at Zenigata which earns him another half hearted threat from the inspector.  
“You’re impossible,” he groans annoyed when Lupin does a little twirl to show off his unclothed upper half.  
  
With the shirt and the jacket discarded Zenigata takes a close look at the all too familiar mark while Lupin studies his face for a reaction. He gets one in the form of a tiny a smile which sure seems like a good sign. Zenigata lets his finger trail over his mark and Lupin suppresses a shiver. Even better. Very nice even. God, the guy’s hands feel great. He smirks and says, “So, judging from your reaction, I’m assuming that it’s a match?”  
  
Zenigata snaps out of his thoughts, scrambles back and nods sheepishly. “It appears to be one, yes.”  
  
“Sooo… What do we do now? You know how I feel, unless you forgot already.”  
  
“I didn’t.” He pauses, scratching his face. “I’ve thought about this before.” He nods again, now sure of how to proceed. “First of all: This won’t affect my work. I won’t let you get away with crimes just because we are in a relationship. Try to keep it in your pants when I’m trying to arrest you or else I _will_ catch you.” Lupin interprets that as a challenge, so that won’t stop him from blowing a kiss or two towards Pops during a job. “And the less people know the better. You can tell Jigen for all I care but let’s avoid making this into public knowledge, please.”  
  
“Yea, sure. I still want to take you out on a date sometime but that’s all very reasonable and- one second,” he realizes what exactly was mentioned here. “What do you mean you thought about this before?”  
  
Zenigata, his _soulmate_ _—_ Lupin can’t stop grinning — looks sheepish. “It’s not like I haven’t considered the possibility and, ah-” He scratches the back of his head, clearly embarrassed, muttering something too quiet for Lupin to hear.  
  
“What was that? Might want to speak up a lil’ bit there.”  
  
“I’ve thought about it a lot actually. Oh for the love of- Stop with that stupid, smug face.”  
  
Lupin cackles in absolute delight, ignoring Zenigata’s annoyed grumbling. The ignoring part only works until the latter decides to grab his arm and yank him forward. A surprised yelp escapes Lupin’s mouth, but he doesn’t have enough time to react because he’s suddenly very occupied with the inspector’s lips on his. His dear soulmate can be a lot more enthusiastic than expected it seems.  
  
The kiss doesn’t last long, much to Lupin’s disappointment, but when Zenigata leans back he does seem awfully pleased with himself. Probably because he caught Lupin off guard. Bastard.  
  
“Would you look at that. I found a way to shut you up after all.”  
  
“Well, you’ll have to do better than that if you want the silence to last longer.” Lupin smirks. “You know… I’m already half naked right now, might as well go for the complete experience.”  
  
Zenigata sighs but Lupin can see his smile. “Why do you always have to go and ruin a good moment.”  
  
“Aw, you love it though.”  
  
“Unfortunately, I do.” He does kiss him again then. Several times in fact.  
  
  
They end up forgetting about the flowers until the next morning.


End file.
